There is an excellent two part interview with Canadian Olympic 100m Champion Donovan Bailey on McMillianSpeed.com It's clear that not only was Bailey a brilliant performer, but also has a true high performance mind. Every country should do everything they can to put former athletes like Bailey in positions of influence.
A couple of gems above in the image, and below - the interview is about sprinting but equally applies to many sports.
In your mind, what are the three most important factors essential to an athlete’s success?Ok - I think the number one thing is the athlete has to make a commitment to be a student. That is number one.Number two - he needs to surround himself with extremely smart people. What he needs to do is absorb as much of the very best information as he can from all of those people. For example, I think you need to have an incredible coach, therapist, and nutritionist. Those are key.And number three - you have to have focus and discipline. If you don’t, then you can just throw out the previous two...